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If nothing else, the 2012 Calgary Stampeders season provided us with a reminder that this team is on solid footing moving forward.

Sunday’s loss to the Toronto Argonauts in the 100th edition of the Grey Cup will sting for weeks and months to come, but it can’t be overlooked that for a good chunk of this season, as injury after injury continued to pile up, the Stamps’ presence in Toronto for the past week seemed unlikely at best.

Stamps coach and GM John Hufnagel and his staff did a remarkable job, not only in finding replacements and preparing them to step in, but also never letting the injuries be used as an excuse; instead, they continued to demand that their players rise to the occasion, regardless of the circumstances. After a 3-4 start to the season, the Stamps would win 11 of their next 13 games leading up to the Grey Cup.

Hufnagel’s coaching record since he was hired in 2008 is comparable only to Montreal’s Mark Trestman (Hufnagel is 59-30-1; Trestman, who was hired at the same time, is 59-32-0).

As well, while plenty of attention was paid to the Stamps’ top pick in last May’s draft, defensive end Ameet Pall, who was hurt in training camp and cut before the season (he went on to sign immediately with the Montreal Alouettes), this may prove to be a productive draft class in the long run. Third-rounder Keenan MacDougall played in every game this season, was terrific on special teams and, should Fraser choose to re-sign here, there will be an intriguing battle for the starting safety job at training camp next June.

That battle will take on an added dimension with the presence of another draft pick, Adam Berger, who completed his eligibility at Simon Fraser University this fall. He and fellow SFU draft pick offensive lineman Bradley Erdos were at BC Place Stadium the day before the West Division final chatting with Hufnagel and Stamps Canadian scout Brendan Mahoney, and one suspects the contracts for both will be announced in the next few weeks.

The same goes for yet another redshirt draft pick, offensive lineman Billy Peach, who attended Stamps practice the week before the West semi to check out the facilities, and went home with a contract offer in his back pocket.

So the Stamps continue to build their Canadian depth, which is crucial to the long-term viability of a team, as was proved this year by the Stamps ability to deal with injuries.

There will be eyes on Drew Tate next season to prove he can last a full season without an injury. There will be eyes on Jon Cornish to see if he can make it back-to-back rushing titles. The people around them, particularly at receiver, are solid and talented. This team will contend next season for a West Division title and a trip to the 101st Grey Cup in Regina.

(By the way, sports-betting site bodog.ca on Monday listed the Stamps as its second favourite for the 2013 Grey Cup; the Stamps are 9-to-2, behind only the B.C. Lions at 7-to-2; the Argos are the third pick at 5-to-1.)

All well and good, but there are some niggling concerns that have grown since the Calgary Flames took over as majority owners of the Stampeders last spring.

It’s no secret that there is growing unease among Stampeder employees, particularly (but not exclusively) those on the business side of the operation who predate the Flames’ increased involvement over the potential for change.

To date, Hufnagel has said repeatedly that he has faced no greater scrutiny for his football decisions than he did prior to the Flames’ majority ownership, and for that fans should be grateful. Hufnagel has proven himself capable not only of putting together competitive football teams but also doing it in a financially responsible manner. It’s highly, highly doubtful that the Flames could help him there, considering their own well-chronicled inability to do the same thing with their hockey product.

And yet one wonders how long it will be before someone high up on the Flames food chain thinks he knows something about football and decides to overrule Hufnagel. That, one suspects, will not be received with great equanimity.

A word of advice to the Flames: leave the football operations alone. Work on stadium improvements, on shortening lines for washrooms and concessions, on making the game-day experience at a stadium that has passed its best-before date at least tolerable. Let Hufnagel and his staff focus on a job they’ve shown they can do very well, and don’t meddle. It could cost you some very good people.

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